The two of us
by The Cabbage man's legacy
Summary: The shin crashed and now Jio and Ruby are back on earth.It really is just like the old times, Jio going on about being a great bodyguard and him and Ruby constantly fighting.The only difference is that they are no longer children... RubyXJio later
1. The voice I hate

I was just so angry about it I couldn't contain myself, the fact that there are so few fics on 666 Satan is unforgivable

This is the new and improved first chapter. I only changed a few things. I hope I didn't just end up making things worse...

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Just after Shin disappears into the sky:

"Ball? Do you think they'll be okay?" I asked quietly, scared of what Balls answer might be, but instead of answering me he turned away to-what I saw with surprise-wipe his tears away.

"What do you mean by that? Don't you trust them Mei? They'll be fine" he said sounding completely confident until he faltered on his last words. He was not only trying to reassure me, he was trying to make himself feel better as well. It was stupid of me to think I was the only one worried. I was not the only one who needed to be comforted.

"Your right Ball, there's no way anything bad has happened to them. Jio will take care of it and then he'll come back from that planet, he'll use the controls to get them out of there before the planet is destroyed. There's no way Jio would die so easily!"

"yeah especially with Ruby there, there's no way he would allow her to get hurt" he said smiling.

We carried on talking about how impossible it would be for Jio to die; each of us coming out with even more far fetched reasons as we went along. We were both most probably deluding ourselves as we tried to push away the harsh reality. Jio and Ruby were gone; we would never see them again.

Jio:

Weird, for some reason I'm not dead. Though my body is hurting me like hell. I opened my eyes and pulled myself up from the ground, wincing from the pain of my legs as they tried to support my body. It was dark outside, so there was barely any light, but I could still see the broken debris of the Shin all around me. I could still see the deformed bodies of the other Demons and Angels lying motionless and twisted on the ground…Ruby!

I searched the area carefully praying that she wasn't among the dead.

"RUBY!" I shouted, as I got more and more desperate, frantically searching "DAMIT RUBY! WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU!?"

Ruby:

I keep hearing a voice, a voice that keeps calling my name. The voice Sounds like Jio. My mind must be playing a cruel trick on me. There's no way Jio could have survived, I kept thinking as tears streamed from the corners of my eyes. Jio is dead and soon I will follow, my body is in so much pain I doubt I can last much longer.

I tried to smile as I always did, crying won't bring Jio back. Even though I knew that I couldn't stop the tears from flowing, how many years had it been since I'd cried like this? _Never, not even when I thought father had died._

Jio's fake voice is getting louder now, I wish it would stop. The voice is keeping my body awake; it is stopping me from entering a never ending sleep. I want to call out to it. I want to tell it to stop imitating my friend

I must be going crazy, the voice isn't real its just the mind playing tricks on a person at the brink of death.

The voice, I hate it. I want it to stop! Why won't it stop? Why does it just keep getting louder and louder? I tried to put my hands on my ears, but I couldn't my arms where pinned down by something big and heavy. I just want to block out the noise. I just want it to stop!

The voice was hurting me, ever time it screamed my name I was reminded of Jio and his death. Every time it spoke it was like a direct wound to my heart. It hurt so much and as the voice got louder, it became excruciatingly pain. I tried to ignore the voice by thinking of other things. I banged my head against the ground until it bled, but the voice would not stop. By then I was past breaking point, I just wanted it gone.

"STOP IT!" I screamed over and over again "PLEASE JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!" I wanted to die, the pain was just too much. I wanted it to stop.

It's just your mind playing tricks on you, just calm down and think. I tried to slow down my thinking tried to think rationally. I was not being myself, if I could just calm down for a moment and think…

"RUBY WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU!?" the fake Jio shouted, louder than ever before. It was too close, it was far too close. I don't want the voice so near me. I want it to go away!

"LEAVE ME ALONE" I screamed and when I screamed I found I couldn't hear the voice any more. I carried on screaming.

I woke up later to find myself in much more comfortable position. I guessed that I had blacked out earlier on. I noticed with relief that the voice was gone and that for some reasons my arms were no longer pinned down by the heavy object. I was leaning against something warm and solid. I opened my eyes and Screamed.

It was Jio! the warm solid thing had been Jio!

Jio:

I woke up at the sound of Ruby's scream- She's been doing that a lot lately, which was really out of character for her- and saw that she was about a foot away from me sobbing. I panicked thinking that she may have hurt herself even further. Her arms were already in a terrible state though I had managed to bandage them up, by using some of my ripped up jacket.

"Ruby? Are you okay?" I asked.

"Are you the real Jio?" she asked looking strangely torn.

"Of course I am!"

"Then am I dead?" so she'd thought I had died?

"Don't be stupid, of course you're alive"

"Good" she said smiling as she hugged me "It would have been a shame if you'd died" she said as she let go of me.

"What do you mean by a shame; don't talk as though you've just found a lost toy!" I said raising my voice only to find that she had collapsed into my arms. I shook her lightly to see if she was asleep. Then put her onto my back so that I could carry her easily. Ruby wasn't in a good state. I was going to have to find her a doctor.

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At the top I said I'd only change a few things, but I the end I changed almost everything besides the beginning and the end(sort of). I think I might edit some of my other chapters as well as this one…

Please review!!


	2. Anna

Yay

Yay! I got my first review for this story from Foxblood! I feel so excited! Anyway on with the story, after all I promised a new chapter would appear if I got a review so here it is:

(Don't forget to review!)

Ruby:

I've been clinging onto Jio's back for about and hour or so now, he's been carrying me in complete silence. I cant say I blame him since he seems to be cooking in this hot desert sun and is probably to busy trying to look tough to care about talking to an unneeded piece of baggage like me. After all I am only a burden to Jio, even though I now know I'm an angel, it is the same as it has always been. I am still nothing but a burden to him.

"Jio? Do you think everyone back there is alright?" I said motioning towards the direction we had just come from.

"Do you mean our friends or _them_?" he said, making perfectly clear his feelings for the angels and demons who had fallen with us.

"Both"

"well Kirin, Mei and the rest of them should be fine, but the ones from back there have nothing to do with _us_" he said it so coldly, has he already forgotten cross and all the help he gave us? "Ruby don't give me that 'but what about cross' look, you know me and him were never going to be friends" I guess Jios right, how could I have forgotten Crosses goal, to kill Satan. Satan, that is something I have never properly talked about with him, I also want to know how he feels about me being an angel.

"ruby, you're slipping" at Jio's words I realised that in my daze I had been slowly loosening my grip around his neck. I quickly hoisted myself up, so that my legs were tight against his waist and pulled my hands closer around is neck.

"sorry Jio, I was tired and lost concentration"

"what ever, we're nearly there, I can see some shapes that are probably buildings in the distance" he was right about the buildings, as we got closer to the horizon they got bigger. Jio is walking at a steady pace right now, so we'll probably get there soon…

Jio:

As I walked into the busy town with ruby-sleeping- on my back, I couldn't help but notice many strange things going on in town. All the people seemed to be praying to some voice which had saved them from a dark cloud. Barely anyone was doing something other than prayer, so it took me a long time to find someone who could give me directions to the doctors place.

The only person who would answer my questions was a little kid and even then I had to practically beat it out of him. As he would not stop talking about the 'dead body' I was carrying. The stupid kid was so scared in the end that he could barely spit out the directions.

Turning to look at the Doctors place now, I wonder if its even worth it. The place was run down, there was even a hole in the roof! I knocked on the door and funnily enough it was then opened by a girl who looked about Ruby's age, she had dark black hair, pale skin and wore a cross on a string around her neck…

"Can I help you?" she said looking from me to the unconscious Ruby suspiciously. Why am I always portrayed as the bad guy?

"Yeah you can, my friend has had an injury to her arms, I want you to look at her"

"Bring her inside then" she went through the door and I followed her, the inside of the house wasn't too bad, everything was just a bit shabby and worn out. "put her on the sofa over there" she said pointing to a blue sofa to the left of me. I laid Ruby down on Sofa Gently as I didn't want to wake her. The women then knelt over her and started examining Ruby's arms. "so what are your names?" she asked

"I'm Jio and she's Ruby, is she going to be alright?"

"I cant be sure until I've taken off he bandages, which will have to wait till she has awoken, but I can tell you that she is in no immediate danger, I'm Anna by the way"

"well that's a relief"

"you know Jio, when I first saw you carrying that girl, you looked to me like a soldier who was looking ahead, using the girl so that people would no you were not one to mess with."

"just as I thought! People always see me as the bad guy!" I said annoyed

"I suppose she is some one very important to you?"

"I'm just her body guard"

"Really is that all? How long have you worked for her"

"six years "

"That long? So what does she pay you?"

"She never has, that's why I'm still with her, until that bitch pays me I wont leave her side"

"I see , even though you talk that way you are obviously in love with her, there would be no other reason to stay otherwise unless she was your lover" my cheeks are growing hot for some strange reason. Lover? Did she just say LOVER?! No way! That is not me and Ruby, we are not like _that_.

"NO way! Why would I want to be with a bitch as ugly as her" I replied quickly, not meaning a word I said.

"Well excuse me for not living up to you expectations" Ruby shouted making it clear that she was no longer sleeping. "Everyone always use to say you had strange taste in women!" she shouted

"what is wrong with my taste in women?! What about your taste in men? Always going on about how great that idiot Cross is!" I shouted back

"What ever, your just jealous coz you'll never be as good an O.P.T as he is!"

"what do you mean Jealous, I'm a far better O.P.T than he'll ever be!" I shouted.

Then just before Ruby had a chance to say anything, that Anna women started laughing and stopped us both in our tracks.

"I see you are both still children on the inside, it was foolish of me to think you may have realised your true feelings, girl you had been awake for a while before that weren't you. If you want to know his feelings for you then just ask him directly." So she was awake pretty much the whole time? " now give me your arms so I can check them over properly and you get out of here I need her to strip off her clothes encase there are any other problems I need to see to"

"its not like I haven't seen I all before" I grumbled as I left the room and closed the door behind me.

Ruby:

The women treating my wounds was beautiful, she had long black hair, pale skin and a petite figure as well as the advantage of being an older women, she was the exact opposite to me. I wonder if Jio finds her attractive… ah! What am I thinking, me and Jio aren't like that! It's this woman putting ideas into my head by saying things about lovers.

"so how'd you do it?" she women asked as she put fresh bandages onto my arms.

"do what" I asked confused

"Get a handsome young man like Jio to be your body guard for free?" Handsome, some how that work just doesn't seem to fit Jio.  
"Well we were a lot younger when we first met, I was 13 and he was only 12, he saved me from a huge desert monster and well things moved on from there I guess…When I saw him again for the first time in four years, I was astounded at how different he looked. He was no longer a foot shorter than me, but rather a foot higher. When I spoke to him I was relieved to find out that he hadn't really changed at all"

"you were separated for that long?"

"yes, but it's a long story…"

"I see, well I hope you'll be glad to know that your arms are ok, as long as you don't do anything to reopen the wounds they should be okay with in a week or so, though there will be some scaring."

"thank you..um"  
"Anna"

"oh yes thank you Anna, but wasn't I supposed to strip for an inspection?"

"oh, that was just to rid of Jio, so we could talk about him openly, oh and you two can stay for as long as you like, I have a guest room upstairs the two of you could share. As Jio said , he's seen it all before right?" my face flared up as I remembered the many times we had seen each other naked.

"they were special circumstances!"

"Just what kind of special circumstances were they?" Anna asked mischievously

"AHH don't imply stuff like that!"

Jio:

They've been in there for ages. How long does it take for an overall body check up…? If ball were here he'd probably have his eyes clued to the key hole, trying to take a peek at a naked Ruby. To be honest, I've never understood Balls Obsession with round things, but sometimes when I look at Ruby I think I can almost understand the attraction.

Those two are taking to long, I'll just go to the door and check if their okay. The door smacked my head as Ruby opened it.

"hey watch it!" I said angrily

"Sorr- wait, were you trying to spy on me?" She said looking annoyed

"no, why would I want to look at you? " at first she looked angry, but then it faded unusually into a look of disappointment?

"well then if you say so I guess you didn't, lets go upstairs Anna says we can stay for the night" she said smiling.

"for how much?" I asked

"for free stupid, really I wish you wouldn't always think that every else is like you and always charges money for everything"

"whatever" Walking up the stairs we found a small room, a small room with only one bed!

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Please review! I won't write another Chapter until I get a review, so please REVIEW!


	3. My bodyguard and prayers

I WANT reviews

I WANT reviews! At this point I don't even care if you tell me the story is crap, I feel so lonely with so few reviews…well I suppose its to be expected, this isn't Inuyasha after all very few people seem to visit this place. This is quite a shame since 666 Satan is an amazing manga, hopefully they'll make an anime that would increase its popularity though since it's already finished I doubt it… Well anyway enough of my rambling thank you again Foxblood my one an only supporter (sniff, sniff) hopefully with this release I'll be able to attract some other attention. Though with this story being so bad I doubt it.

I keep forgetting to do this… I do not own 666 Satan!

Jio:

Why is it always me who gets the short end of the straw? Just coz I'm her Body guard doesn't mean she can treat me like a servant. Why was I the one who had to sleep on the floor? I'm younger too and here I was thinking that maybe we could sleep next to each other again…

_Minor flashback of no real importance:_

_There's only one bed! Maybe Ruby and I can-_

"_dibs on the bed" she said grinning foolishly_

"_hey what gives you the right to have the bed?" I asked irritated _

"_well you see young Jio, as you are _**always **_saying you are my bodyguard and as my bodyguard it is your job to protect me from all the dangers of the world, including a stiff back" She said sounding almost angry, what had I done?_

"_fine I'll sleep on the floor, I am your _**bodyguard**_" when I said that she looked surprised, probably because I gave up so easily?_

_End of flashback of no real importance:_

I can't believe that she used the excuse of me being her bodyguard though; she never used to even talk about that before as she always said we were friends. Are we no longer as close as we were before? Does she no longer view me as her friend? Ah what am I thinking, of course we're still friends, Ruby's not the kind of person who would let go of friends so easily. There should be nothing for me to worry about. There is no reason to worry, though bodyguard just sounds so impersonal…

Ruby:

I cant stop thinking about it, I cant believe that he said that…

'_I suppose she is some one very important to you?'_

'_I'm just her body guard'_

I thought we had gotten past all that, I thought that we had become proper friends that we had something important between us. I guess I was wrong, this whole day he has mentioned that word so many, bodyguard this bodyguard that, it makes me feel sick. He didn't even give up a fight when I said that was the reason for him giving up the bed. If he had said something I might have said that we could share the bed, though he probably wouldn't have agreed.

If only I could talk to him as easily as I used to, but now it seems that things are different between us. When ever I'm with him I feel lost for words, its been like that ever since he saved me from himself (Satan).

Heh, I guess I shouldn't get to messed up about it, after all we've both changed, I'm now and a beautiful strong women and Jio's…well he's gorgeous! Not that I have feelings for him in that way but, he really has changed from back then. He is no longer an immature kid who cares only for himself, he really has grown(mentally). If only I could say the same…Ah, I'm too tired to think about this stuff right now, I'll just go to sleep and think about this stupid stuff tomorrow…

'_If you want to know his feelings for you then just ask him directly'_

Maybe that Anna's words hold some truth I'll never know anything unless I ask him, but if I did he'd probably just laugh, those were my last thoughts before I fell asleep.

I feel as though something really heavy is on top of me, I wonder what it is. Opening my eyes I saw that they heavy 'object' was in fact Jio who was sitting on top of me cross legged staring at me intently…

"Jio, what are you doing?" I said menacingly

"Waiting for you to wake up" he said looking bored

"Well, why the hell to you have to do it while sitting on me! You woke me up!" I shouted, losing my temper.

"I don't think so, I've been sitting on you for the last half an hour" he said as he jumped off the bed. "you really are a deep sleeper, you were even talking yourself going on about how you didn't like some word" at this I felt myself grow hot, what else had I been saying in my sleep?

"Did I say anything else?"

"Nothing really cept that you kept going on about your beloved cross" he said looking irritated. I don't get why he always has to get like that about Cross, but I am surprised that I talked about him in my sleep. I wonder if Cross is still alive.

"Knowing that guy he probably survived" he said, it was like he had read my mind

"how did you kn-" I tried to ask before he interrupted me.

"I'm not the only one who's easy to read ya know" he said pausing briefly before carrying on " now let forget about that guy and get some food, that women Anna has prepared us some food"

we both went down the stairs to the table and were greeted warmly by Anna.

"she did" Jio said as he pointed his thumb in my direction " but I on the other hand didn't, because of her cruelty I had to sleep on the floor" he said sounding soooooooooo hard done by.

"well its not like you bothered to put up a fight!" I retaliated.

"well there shouldn't have been a need to, I'm younger than you so in need more sleep, you should have automatically said that I was the one who should have the bed" "yeah, well haven't you ever heard of being nice to women?" he looked at me confused.

"what are you talking about? I am nice to women, aren't I Anna" damn you Jio, so you don't consider me a woman huh?

"you idiot!" I shouted as I Slapped him across the face, I then ran out of the room to get some fresh air.

Jio:

"Hey, what was the for" I asked angrily, as I rubbed the red spot on my cheek, but when I looked around I realised that she had already left.

"When she does things like that you can see why she may not be considered as a woman" said Anna chuckling to herself.

"oh so that's what its about, what a stupid thing to get wound up over" its so unlike Ruby to get upset about anything as stupid as that.

"Never underestimate a women's pride, girls hate it when people say they don't look womanly, especially if it someone they like" she said

"Yeah, well it has nothing to do with me" I said as I headed to the door to look for Ruby.

"where are you going" she asked smiling

"for a walk" I replied

"of course " she said smiling knowingly.

Ruby:

Damn him, I thought to myself as I kicked another huge boulder in front of me, changing it into a tiny pebble then watching it disappear into the distance. Maybe I really I am not womanly enough? Maybe if I show a bit more cleavage I'd look womanly, I thought as I pulled down on my top, accidentally ripping it. Well it's what I wanted I guess...

Well this is stupid anyway, its not like I care really, but if Jio doesn't think I'm womanly then what about other men? What if they feel the same? Oh no, this way I'll never find a man! Ah what should I do?

"hey Ruby is that you?" hearing Jio's voice I turned around .

"yeah its me" I said, he walked over, then sat next to me. We sat next each other silently for a moment, before Jio spoke.

"so you gonna apologize to me?" he asked

"Why do I have to apologize?" I asked feeling cheated I had been sure that he was going to apologize; I guess I was hoping for the impossible.

"Because you shouted at me earlier on _and_ hit me for no reason" he said, sounding frustrated. I guess I should have expected as much, he's just too dense to realise that saying something like that might hurt a person. To him it really would seem like I had done something unreasonable.

"oh yeah that, sorry" I said lamely

"Is that all you have to say? Try and say it with more feeling, repeat after me, I" heh what the heck I'll go along with him.

"I" I repeated

"will never"

"will never"

"lay a hand on jio"

"lay a hand on Jio" how long is this gonna go on for?

"my wonderful and amazing bodyguard" Talk about egotistical

"my wonderful and amazing bodyguard" I repeated

"Ever again"

"Ever again" thank god its over!

"Okay, now lets get back" he said, already looking bored.

As we walked along I noticed something very strange. .Not one person was out working and there was not a single child out playing, every single one of them was on the ground with their hands clasped together in prayer.

"Hey Jio, don't you think what their doing is bit strange? Not a single one of them is working…" I said feeling unsure.

"Yeah I noticed that when I first got here, though the number of them praying seems to have increased…" he said, looking disturbed at the sight of all the people praying, meaninglessly.

"We should ask Anna when we get back" I suggested

"yeah that sounds like I good idea" he said aloud, while his face showed me otherwise. Did Jio not trust Anna? As we walked thorough the village, I couldn't help but glace around nervously. I kept hearing their prayers being whispered.

_Please save him!_

_I need money _

_I don't know what to do…_

_I love you, our saviour Jio Freed!_

Jio Freed! No I must have misheard them, I thought as I glanced at Jio. There's no way..

"Stop spacing out all the time!" said Jio as he shook my shoulders. I looked around to see that we were already at the house. I opened the door and me and Jio walked inside, to see that Anna was sitting down reading a book. She looked up at the two of us and smiled.

"So you've already apologized then Jio?" said Anna. I looked at him, surprised to see a look of embarrassment on his face. So the reason he had come was not to force out an apology, but to check up on me?

"Enough about that, I've been wondering for a while now, what exactly are those Villagers doing?" he asked

"What, you don't know? I'm surprised; it is after all, all for you Jio Freed. They are praying for _you _their saviour"

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Well there you go Foxblood, I've given you a cliff hanger! Anyway since I'm going away for a few days, I'm hoping that I might get some more reviews from some different people other than foxblood. If you are out there please respond to my prayers and Review! Review! Review! Please don't hesitate click that button, say anything you like. Tell me how rubbish my story is, tell me what I need to do to improve. I don't care what you say, as long as you give me a review! Ah, no! what am I doing? I'm probably driving all the reviewers away with my desperate begging!


	4. It bothers me

Again many thanks to Foxblood the only reviewer of this story

Again many thanks to Foxblood the **only** reviewer of this story.

Please **review **after you've read this.

Jio:

"I've been wondering for a while now, what exactly are those Villagers doing?" I asked feeling, for reasons unknown to me, scared of her answer.

"What, you don't know? I'm surprised; it is after all, all for you Jio Freed. They are praying for _you _their saviour" Anna said sounding quite confident. I just stared at the women dumbstruck, what the hell was she talking about!

"What are you talking about?" I asked her coldly; the women had known about this the whole time but had not even thought about telling us. She had been purposely hiding it from us.

"I'm talking about your little speech a few days ago and when I say little I'm being sarcastic" she replied, sounding like she was accusing me of some crime. A crime I realised I was guilty of, I had spoken to the whole world.

"How did you know it was me?" I asked suspicious "did you only take us in because you knew who I was?"

"Yes, I knew who you were" she said. "Though I would have taken you in anyway"

"But how did you-"know? I tried to ask her, but she answered before I completed the question.

"I would recognise my 'saviours' voice anywhere" she said her tone turning bitter.

"Then tell me. What is all this saviour crap?" I asked feeling frustrated at my lack of knowledge.

"Well you see Jio everyone in this town seems to that you are some kind of God. They think you saved them from those tentacles in the sky" she said. Hearing this I couldn't help but feel guilty, those stupid towns' people were praying for a meaningless cause and it was my fault. Quickly, without bothering to warn Ruby, I rushed off towards the towns centre, ignoring the calls from Ruby and that woman from behind.

Ruby:

"Jio! Wait Jio, where are you going?" I called after him, though I knew it was hopeless. Jio was already out of sight. Turning to Anna I asked her "Why didn't you tell us about this before?!"

" I wasn't sure as to what he would do, would he take advantage of them? Would he tell them the truth? I wasn't sure, so I didn't tell him. I am still not sure" I shake my head; I have no time to deal with her right now. I just have to find Jio, before he does anything crazy. I started running in the direction Jio had gone. Please don't have gone and done anything stupid!

"Wait Ruby let me come with you" I turned around to see that Anna was calling me. Without stopping I called out to her "You can come, as long as you don't slow me down" I panted. Looking around for Jio as I ran I noticed that instead of praying everyone was gathering around one place, or a person?

"You guys recognise my voice right!?" the voice penetrated crowd and I saw every person there stiffen with anticipation, there was only silence. Pushing my way through the dumbstruck crowd, I thought about the stupid idiot who that voice belonged to. Whatever he was about to say, I knew it would only bring us trouble.

He had yet to say anything but I knew it would be soon; if only I could get close enough to stop him. If only the crowds weren't so thick. Feeling a light tap on my shoulder I turned around to see Anna smiling at me and offering me…Popcorn?! "Err Anna, what's with the Popcorn?" I asked quietly.

"Its so we can enjoy watching the show, I bet your boyfriends going to say some pretty interesting stuff" was Anna like this before? Ah I can't remember. Though this Anna seems familiar, like I've met her somewhere before. Studying her face, I knew that there was definitely something familiar.

"I thought that you were upset about the villagers, wait did you just say boyfriend!?"

"Well what else are the two of you? I young woman and man travelling together, what else could you be? Oh and the villagers? I was just mad because I couldn't buy any food from the market" that was her reason? "Oh, hey look he's finally decided to continue!" she said as she pointed at Jio who finally looked ready to speak. Her attitude towards this whole thing really is unbelievable.

"If you people recognise my voice then you should realise that I am Jio Freed, your supposed _saviour_" there were lots of people whispering now, as uncertainty was in the air. I wasn't surprised, after all their supposed God had appeared before them. A God would surely never take on the form of such a rude, loud 18 year old.

"Do you know what I heard? Some shit about people saying _I _was their saviour and praying for me. I want to ask you all why you are doing this" he paused for a moment. "It was only a few days ago, I will not believe that you have already forgotten. It wasn't me who saved you, you saved yourselves" he looked at all the people for a moment, waiting for someone to speak.

A woman slowly pushed her way to the front of the crowds, and then bowed down in front of him.

"I may be speaking out of turn when I say this, but you did save us, with your words, you told us we were not alone and saved us from the terrifying voice"

"I suppose I shouldn't tell you then, that voice was my own. You weren't the only ones who were saved, I was saved as well" he admits he was saved; wow Anna was right this is interesting! No this is bad, this is really bad Jio's going to make the town angry and then we'll be chased out by an angry mob! Okay maybe not a mob but…

"My friend Ruby saved me; she reminded that I was not alone" Jio... "So you people can stop praying now because I've never given you anything. Though you should remember my name since I'm the guy who's going to conquer the world" you just had to ruin it didn't you Jio? Why did you speak of conquering the world? Why?

"you know" whispered Anna "I really like this boy, since you don't seem to want him can I have him instead?"

"What do you mean by _have_ him?"

"Don't be dense Ruby, I mean a relationship between a man and a woman" she wants Jio in that way?! No I won't let her have him! What am I thinking its not for me to decide if Jio wants to be with Anna then... "Ruby, sorry to interrupt your thoughts but Jio's gone" she was right he was gone; he must have left while we were talking and by the looks of it he left with pretty much the whole town, since me and Anna were the only ones left. "We should go back to the house for now; he'll probably show up later"

"Yeah..." I said still looking around for any sign of him. We walked back through the town; it was a relief to see that were no longer people praying everywhere. Though eerie since there was now no one else in sight. Then when we reached the house and got inside there was the wait. Jio wasn't there when we got back, so we decided to wait for him to come back-it was not pretty. I kept pacing up and down the room, what if Jio had been stupid and said something even more upsetting to the people? What if they had tried to hurt him? I knew that Jio would be alright, but what about the poor innocent people who tried to hurt him?

Jio:

Thank God I finally got away! Those people just kept following me everywhere! I don't think they understood a word I said earlier since they kept calling me leader. Though I did get a new scarf-I lost my old one on Shin- for free. I wonder if Ruby's mad at me for not saying anything to her earlier on; before I left to talk to those people.

I opened the door to see Ruby and that Anna person sitting on the couch looking bored. They both stared at me for a moment-which was creepy- the Ruby spoke.

"Jio your back, where'd you get the scarf?"

"Err the villagers, now listen we really need to leave"

"Why, did you say anything else to the villagers?" Ruby asked.

"is it true that your dream is to conquer the world Jio? I know you said some thing about it earlier and Ruby says its true, but I want confirmation" said Anna

"You heard me?" I asked

"YES" they both said in unison. I felt my self go a little red, I mentioned Ruby before.

"Right well that doesn't matter now, we need to leave this place now"

"Why? I just tell me why" said Ruby

"I don't like this place; those people keep following me around"

"That's such a stupid reason! I really like it here I don't want to leave just yet, can't we wait for another few days?"

"We're leaving tomorrow morning" I said, before heading upstairs to our room.

I sat down on the bed, maybe what I said to Ruby was a bit unkind. I guess it just can't be helped; this town is… smothering me. I can't breathe. All the people are crazy, besides Anna and even then I can't say that she's exactly normal.

"I need to get out of here" I said aloud to myself.

"Why?" I turned around to see Anna standing at the door. She walked toward me then sat on the bed next to me. She was so close that our shoulders were touching. She was to close for comfort.

"I need to move on, I have things to do"

"like what?" she said laughing "conquering the world?"

"It's not something you should be laughing about" I said, with a hint of menace.

"Of course, you are still the same as before, though you have now become a man worthy of me" she said smiling.

"You know me?" I asked surprised.

"Imagine me with blonde hair and six years younger"

"I still don't…"

"On the Flying o-part, at the tournament, your first opponent" suddenly the pieces fit into place.

"Your that women from back then!"

"Took you long enough, but now that you know…" she said, while putting her arm around me. "We can be together, you and Ruby haven't made any progress" she said, her face uncomfortably close to mine.

"I'm not so sure" I said as pulled away from her. "You're about 7 years older than me…"

"Don't be so old fashioned" she said as she tried to get close again. I stood up then moved away from her.

"I don't have any interests in being like _that_ with you"

"So you still like that girl then? You know she'll never look at you like I do, she only sees you as a little brother" she moved closer to me again, this time I didn't stop her.

"Ruby doesn't think of me that way"

"Come on you know its true.Haven't you ever wondered what its like to be with another woman?" she asked as her face got closer to mine. "I could be that women" she said softly into my ear. I leaned down towards her and our lips touched, it was not something I enjoyed, it felt weird to have her mouth against mine as we exchanged saliva. If only it was Ruby… At that thought I pulled away from Anna.

"why did you stop Jio?" she said panting "It was just getting good"

"Just go" was all I said to her, before sitting on the bed and turning my back to her.

"I understand, you still need time to get over her but don't forget when you do, I'll be waiting" she silently before leaving the room.

Ruby came in just a few minutes after.

A few minutes ago:

Ruby:

This is soo boring! Anna went up there ages ago to see if she could convince Jio to stay a little longer, but she's taking to long! She's been up there for about 20 minutes. I think I'll just go up there to see what's going on. I went upstairs and saw that the door was half way open, I peered inside and saw Jio and Anna in each others arms kissing! Shakily I walked half way down the stairs and sat on the steps. Well at least that answers your question, he does find her attractive. I held my arms to stop them from shaking, there was no reason for me to be jealous, I gripped my shoulders even tighter. No reason at all

A few minutes later Anna came down. She didn't look or speak to me, she just walked past, acting like I wasn't there. I waited for a few moments then went back upstairs, pausing for a moment before going into our room. For some reason I really wish that I and Jio had left town earlier like he had said. I no longer want to be here.

When I walked in there I saw Jio sitting on the bed, facing the opposite direction from me.

"Jio, hi" I blurted out not sure what to say. He turned around looking startled.

"It was you then? I thought it was _her_" he said darkly.

"You mean Anna?"

"Yes her, she came on to me and because of that I will now be emotionally scarred for the rest of my life" he didn't like it?

"You looked like you were enjoying yourself when I saw you" I said quietly. Jio then turned an interesting red.

"You were spying on me?!"

"No"

"What did you hear?" he asked

"NOTHING! I just saw the two of you glued together!" I said startled at my own out burst. It bothers me, I have to admit at least that to myself, it bothers me that he was with another women! "You know what Jio, I think you were right, we should leave in the mourning to prevent any trouble with the towns people" _or_ I added silently any further development between you and Anna.

"Women, just never stick to anything" Jio muttered.

"Well Anna seemed to stick well enough" I replied, he stiffened as if my words were painful. "I'm going to sleep, you can have the bed tonight. Who knows what you two were doing on it" I said, before setting my head down on the floor.

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My longest ever chapter!! Let's celebrate! Okay now I'm really worried about this, I seem to be getting REVIEWS from only one person (foxblood) I'm on my fourth chapter now so I would really appreciate it if someone else would REVIEW. Is it the summary that puts people off or the title? If so I will change it, but people please I'm getting desperate, would you just REVIEW!


	5. Men are stupid

YAY! I got a review from someone who wasn't Foxblood! (not that I'm not grateful). Thanks for the review Kp3!!

PLEASE REVIEW!!

Jio:

Ruby's really pissing me off! No matter what I say, even if its something like 'pass me a towel', she just stares at me coldly. She keeps getting angry at me for stupid reasons and woke me up at 4am saying that we had to leave the town. What is up with her?

I stared at her across the table, as I ate my breakfast, trying to figure out her sudden change of mind. Yesterday she had been all 'I don't want to leave I like it here' and now she's all 'I hate it here, lets leave now!' Talk about being fickle. Another change is her attitude to Anna, before they both seemed to like each other but now…Now they just stare at each other coldly.

I turned to look at Anna, seeing her I couldn't help but remember the night before when she'd offered herself to me and I had refused. Not that I hadn't done a little with her though it was only a kiss. Come to think of it, Ruby started acting weird just after me and Anna were together. I told her a little about it-not me and Anna kissing- saying I didn't like Anna, when she started going on about seeing her and me kissing. Since then me and Ruby haven't been on very good terms. I wonder what I did to get her so upset…

Maybe she doesn't approve of Anna? Or maybe she's Jealous! Just thinking about Ruby being jealous…Ah who am I kidding? Ruby Jealous? No way. Ruby would never be jealous of another woman being with me. I thought as I slumped down on the table feeling dejected.

Well looking on the bright side, as soon as we all finish breakfast I and Ruby will be leaving this place and it will just be the two of us again. Without Anna around things should be easier to deal with.

Ruby:

Jio just keeps looking at Anna like some lovesick puppy, that look in his eyes tells all. He's obviously thinking about her. So much for being scarred for life. And Anna, I thought as I turned to look at her, what kind of woman is she? Kissing someone so suddenly like that…How shameless.

I looked at the piece of bread I was supposed to be eating; I had been unconsciously tearing it into crumbs while I was thinking. Pushing the crumbs off the table I noticed that Anna and Jio had finished their food to.

"Jio you finished? Cause I want to get out of here now" instead of protesting like I thought he would, Jio stood up.

"Yeah I'm done, lets get out of this dump while we still can" he said, no seeming to notice Anna's pained look at his statement. I smiled, glad that he had not insisted on staying or bringing Anna with us.

We both grabbed our bags which were full of free supplies Anna had given us and slung them onto our backs in unison. I had to admit that Anna wasn't that bad, since she'd given people she didn't even know shelter and food, though I still can't bring myself to like her.

Walked to the door "Good bye" I said, eager to be off, but Jio stood where he was for a second.

"Bye Anna thanks for all the help you've given us" said Jio. Anna leaned forward and whispered something in his ear, making Jio blush. Then she pulled Jio close into a passionate embrace! I looked at the two of them startled, why hadn't Jio pushed her off? Told her to go away? I've only gotten so close to Jio about 4 or 5 times since I've known him and here he is letting almost a stranger cling onto him. I turned away from the two; the scene was almost too much to bear.

When the two finally let go of each other Anna had only one thing to say.

"Jio, I'll be waiting for your return, so I won't bother to say goodbye" she said sounding confident and sure of herself. Her confidence irritated me, like Jio would leave me for a slut like her. Anna would just have to keep dreaming.

Finished with our goodbyes we left Anna and headed into the desert.

Jio:

I and Ruby have been walking for an hour now and she still hasn't spoken to me. I want to speak to her, but her furious aura stops me. We keep walking in silence for hours, not a word exchanged between us. We don't stop for lunch we just keep walking, not one break was taken (not that I needed one) and Ruby looked tired. I didn't speak, I just watched as her pace slowed and her breathing became faster. It was her fault for being stubborn; I could walk all night if I wanted to. I'd just wait until she finally gave up and spoke to me.

2 hours have past and she still hasn't spoken, I'm worried her movements are slow and she keeps swaying from side to side, but I won't speak she's brought this upon herself.

I walk faster to catch up with her and get there just in time to catch her when she starts to fall.

Ruby:

I've been feeling tired for a while now, I want to rest. But I won't not until Jio talks to me. I know I should stop, my legs are aching and my vision is blurry. I take every step one at a time, the right foot forward then the left. Just one step at a time. My foot slips on the ground and I begin to fall on to be stopped by strong arms.

Jio puts me down on the ground and sits besides me. Opens his mouth and shouts.

"What the hell are you doing!" he shouted, I cringe surprised by his out break. "If you needed to rest so badly you should have just asked!"

"I didn't need rest! I just tripped over!" I shouted back.

"How could you have tripped!? We are walking on sand, there is nothing to trip over!"

"I was tired and I tripped over my feet" I explained quietly.

"See _you_ were tired, why didn't you ask you a break?" he asked looking curious. I looked away embarrassed and mumbled something quietly under my breath.

"What did you say?"

"I wanted you to speak to me first" I blurted out, ashamed at my own foolishness.

"I wanted you to speak to me as well" he said his face getting close to mine, remembering his and Anna's kiss I moved back away from him. "You seemed to be angry at me for no reason, yet again. So I was waiting for your apology" I laughed at that, Jio was always trying to get me to apologise for one thing or another .

"Men really are stupid" I said smiling "they just can't see what their doing, so even if I explained it to you, you wouldn't under stand"

"Isn't that just an excuse so you don't have to tell me?"

"It might be, but even if I did want to tell you we don't have the time. The sun is setting we need to set up camp"

"Okay, let's get the Tent out then" he said looking grumpy.

Anna only had one tent, so I and Jio had to share. We spent the night next to each other.

Jio fell asleep first, I watched him for a while as he tossed and turned at one point he grabbed my hand in his sleep and started gripping it so tightly that I couldn't get free. I fell asleep like that, right next to Jio with his hand holding tightly onto my own.

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I miss Foxblood, she (I'm assuming you're a she) didn't review my last chapter and since I go by a rule of not writing until I get a review on my latest chapter, I was kind of worried that I might never publish on this again. Thankfully someone did review, that's why I'm releasing this chapter! The chapters a bit shorter than usual so I apologise for that.

PLEASE REVIEW!


	6. South

It's been like two weeks since I last updated this…

It's been like two weeks since I last updated this…

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It was dark and the streets of Anna's home town were empty, all except for a lonely figure who staggered through the night. Blood dripping from the wounds of his body, for him, each step was painful. For a moment he stopped to rest, sitting down on a bench, he closed his eyes, promising himself it would only be for a moment, but the pain was too much and he fell asleep, the promise was already broken.

Anna woke up to the sound of loud knocking on her door; she opened it to see that the villagers were carrying a boy covered in blood. He couldn't have been much older than 18! She told the villagers to lay him down on her bed, so that she could get to work. She quickly cleaned the boys wounds to stop infection, then bound them.

"What's your name?" Anna asked, not expecting to get any reply.

"Cross" said the young man, his voice cracking "My names Cross"

Ruby woke up from a strange dream, about the shin and the Crash; she shook herself trying to forget it. Her dream had been filled with blood. Getting up, she noticed that Jio was not in the tent, she decided that he'd probably gone off to do something stupid. She opened the flap of the tent, blinking a few times as she got used to the harsh light of the sun.

She opened her bag and got out some bread. She sat down for a moment as she ate her meagre breakfast. Once she was finished, she began packing up the tent and her belongings- Jio could pack up his own, it wasn't her responsibility. Once she was done, she took out her map and compass as she tried to work out the co-ordinates for their next destination

"So where are we going next?" asked Jio, making Ruby jump.

"Where have you been?" she asked, irritated at his sudden appearance.

"Just checking the area out..." he said. "So where are we going next?"

"Well… I want to check out some ruins _south_ of here, they're not very well known, and so I thought it would be interesting to see…" she said nervously, hoping he wouldn't catch the word 'south'.

"South! What the hell?! Didn't we spend practically the whole day yesterday going north?!"

"We did and now we're going south" she said calmly.

"Who can you speak so calmly? Yesterday you nearly killed yourself going north and now you want to go south?" asked Jio, frustrated.

"Yes I want to go south" she said, hoping her true intentions were not showing on her face.

"But why south? I just don't get it, you always said that there were barely any ruins back south…" it clicked. "ruby your not thinking of going back to the Shin are you?"

"I-I want to see if my fathers still alive" she said quietly.

"Ruby, are you crazy? There's no way he could still be alive, I _saw_ the bodies none of them were even recognisable!"

"If you didn't recognise him, then tat means he could still be alive, we can't be the only survivors, others might be alive but too injured to move…"

"Did you listen to what I just said? The body's weren't recognisable! They were mangled, the faces ruined. Do you want to go back? Too find the rotting bodies?" he asked concerned.

"Of course I do! If you don't want to come that's fine, you can stay here" she said as she stood up, slinging her bag over her shoulder.

"I guess I could come along to, it would be nice to see if old zero is still alive" he said as he picked up his own bag. Knowing to well what he had just said was a lie, he already knew zero was dead, he had found the wolfs body when he was looking for Ruby. He would have given the wolf a proper burial but at the time finding Ruby had been his top priority.

The two set off a few minutes later, headed south along the road of misery.

"Are you sure their headed north?" asked Cross.

"Positive, though I don't think you should be travelling in your state" said Anna, a look of worry clearly written on her face.

"I'll be fine" he said smiling, before opening the door and taking a step outside.

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That was _really_ short… I guess its cause I myself am short of ideas… If anyone's got an idea they can give me, then please don't hesitate to tell me.

PLEASE REVIEW


	7. lost

Jio was jolted awake by the connection of Ruby's foot kicking his side, disgruntled he pulled himself up from where he'd been sleeping and brushed off the sand that was now covering him. He then turned to look at Ruby; angry.

"What was that for?" he asked, grabbing a handful of sand off the ground and throwing it at her in agitation.

"Hey! I was doing you a favour by waking you up!" she replied as she shook out a cover causing all the sand to go in Jio's eyes.

"That doesn't mean you had to kick me!" he said, ripping the map she was now holding out of her grasp and throwing it on the ground to try and get one up on her. Unfortunately though, doing this was not the best of ideas as it was windy in the desert, which of course resulted in the map being blown away almost instantaneously. Jio did attempt to go after it but unfortunately it was too late.

Jio turned around reluctantly already feeling Ruby's angry gaze upon him.

"Come on its not that bad, we still have the compass so we should be able to vaguely follow the same direction" he said, not hearing the crunching sound as he stepped on something.

"Jio" she said, her voice now shaking with anger "Do you know what your stupid foot is now standing on?" she asked as she watched him take a step backwards; he'd been standing on their now broken compass 'crap' was all he could think as he saw the scattered pieces slowly sink into the sand.

"Hey come on you can't seriously blame me for that, can you, after all you are the one who left it on the ground"

"So you're now blaming me?" she asked incredulously "Well at least I didn't lose the map!"

"You know that was an accident!"

"And then you stand on the compass straight after? Come on Jio as if I'd believe in such convenient co-incidences!"

"How is that convenient? I'm just as lost as you are!" he exclaimed irritably "It's not like I have some magic skill that lets me know which direction to go in!"

"Fine then, I guess it doesn't matter that much…"

"Really you know a way to do that?"

"Well how do you remember which way north is?" she asked smiling.

"Its never eat shredded wheat or something right? Oh I get it! So that means that forward is north, right s left and-"

"Forget it" she said cutting him off "You're obviously a complete idiot, what I actually meant was that the sun rises in the west and it sets in the east, so that means that from that we can work out north"

"I see…" he said, not really sure if this theory was correct since he'd thought the sun rose in the east and set in the west, however he didn't say anything; not wanting to upset Ruby any further and maybe trying to avoid something else.

Anyway what resulted was that they continued moving in a direction Ruby was certain had to be south.

"Hey Ruby, didn't you say that we should be approaching a town by now?" asked Jio as they slowly traipsed through the sand, sweating under the hot sun after having now been walking for several hours "the waters running out too and I don't really think you'll be able to take much more of this" he added, noticing how Ruby's breath as now coming out in short and heavy gasps.

"I'm fine Jio" she said stubbornly "And today we haven't been walking for nearly as long as we did yesterday" he'd agree with that, though he difficulty today was probably the result of having over exerted herself the day before.

"Whatever" he said as he put up a hand to his forehead to scan the horizon "but there are some people heading this way"

"Really?" she asked "I can't see anyone, what do they look like?" she asked sounding painfully hopeful as she waited for their description.

Alas all Jio could do was disappoint as he quickly informed her that there was a shorty in a red coat and a freak wearing a suit of amour. He could only wonder how the big guy could survive the heat in such a thing.

It was a few minutes later that the two parties joined up; it was the big guy who decided to speak first.

"Um, you two don't happen to know where we could find the city of Reol?" the shorter one leaned across to his companion and though he probably meant it to be just a whisper all of them could hear him very clearly.

"I already told you Al, there's no need for us to ask directions!"

"Stop being so stubborn brother, we've been heading south the whole day! We should have reached it by now" at this statement Ruby and Jio felt a sudden feeling of nervousness over come them.

"Excuse me you too but did you happen to say you were travelling south? Are you completely sure about that?" asked Ruby. The blonde looked at them quizzically.

"Of course , it's easy to work out, even without a map all you need to know is that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west" he took in their downfallen expressions for a moment then let out a smug smile "Come on Al" said the shorty still grinning "these guys won't be able to help us, they don't even know which way is north!" the two strangers then left, leaving Jio and Ruby completely lost for words.

Fed up, they decided they deserved a rest.

"So what are we going to do?" he asked solemnly "We can't really keep going now can we? Since you made that stupid mistake" he added, unable to stop himself.

"Well maybe if someone hadn't stepped on the compass and lost our map we wouldn't be in this mess at all!" she huffed, laying back onto the sand, not thinking about how she'd get covered in sand "And yes I think we'll have to keep going forward, if we keep heading straight the way we've been going then we'll eventually have to hit a town"

"I guess that's better than nothing but we probably won't be able to go much further than this anyway, right Ruby?" he said smiling deviously, causing Ruby to frown.

"And what do you mean by that?" she asked crossly, folding her arms across her chest as she picked herself up to sit cross legged on the sand.

"Nothing" he said feigning innocence "But do we really have to keep moving today?" he added a mischievous smile now working it's way across his face.

"Yes, we need to cover as much ground as possible so we can start heading along the right course, once we find a village we can get a map and then start heading south again"

"So we should get moving now?" he asked, his grin widening sill further.

"Pretty much" they both stood up and picked up their bags "Hey Jio! What are you doing!?" she asked frantically, blushing when she felt his arms wrap around her waist.

"Picking you up" he said, before pulling her off the ground and swinging her onto his shoulder into a firemen's lift.

"Put me down now!" she screamed irritably.

"No" he said, clearly enjoying himself as he began to move forward again across the desert, though they were now moving more slowly since he was carrying Ruby.

"Seriously just let me go Jio, there's no point in this; I can walk fine on my own!" If wouldn't have killed his neck he would have probably raised a sceptical eyebrow but instead he laughed.

"What's so funny?" she asked with annoyance.

"You are" he replied, laughter still clear in his voice.

"Honest to God Jio if you don't let me down right now I'm going to activate my O.P.T!"

While these two friends squabbled there was an entirely different argument going on not that far away. It seemed that Cross had found himself a stalker.

"How many times have I told you to stop following me?" he asked, irritated as Anna followed him from behind.

"Well I'd walk besides you if I could keep up, honestly this desert is too much for me!" she complained, fanning herself with her hand.

"Then you should stay home where its safe, I don't want to be responsible if you get hurt" Anna seemed to ignore his comment though, having noticed someone approaching.

"Hey I see someone over there! It looks like they're carrying someone!" Cross looked in the direction she was pointing and saw the figure.

"I can't tell who they are though; I wonder what kind of crazy person would travel alone in the desert"

"Yeah" said Anna bitterly "I wonder"

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Lots of thanks to neospice and the reviewers for encouraging me! I've finally released a chapter after so many months. I hope you all have a happy new year!

And YES! I was so happy that I was able to use the word alas! I wonder if anyone noticed anything particularly interesting in this chapter? :]


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